12 December 2008
28-30 November 2008: visit to Bosnian Valley of Pyramids
Forward
It was April 2005 during a visit toVisoko (a small town in the central Bosnia about 30 km north of Sarajevo) that Dr.Semir Osmanagich was impressed by some hills (especially the so called Visocica hill) because of their pyramidal shape.
Familiar with pyramidal structures thanks to his studies and visits to several archaeological locations in North and South America, Osmanagich decided to do in depth exploration of this phenomenon.
Osmanagich obtained the necessary permits and licenses and began the work with drilling. After the first period of exploration, he claimed that man-made structures were hidden under the soil and vegetation of the Visoko Valley and that the area consisted of five colossal stone pyramidal structures and an extensive underground tunnel network.
To achieve archaeological research, Osmanagich established the non-profit and non-government Foundation "Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun".
The first meeting with Semir Osmanagich
In order to more fully understand his claim and to obtain more information regarding this discovery, Roma Sotterranea invited Semir Osmanagich to Rome to give a lecture about the Bosnian Pyramids and Tunnels. This presentation was held on July 3rd 2008 at the Congress Hall of Accenture SpA head office, V.le Del Tintoretto, 200. Following this event Roma Sotterranea promised Semir they would send a delegation to the Visoko site for a vist.
Roma Sotterranea visits the Bosnian Valley of Pyramids
On November 28th, 2008 a team from Roma Sotterranea traveled to Bosnia to survey the Visoko archeological site. They arrived in Sarajevo in the afternoon and discovered it completely covered by snow.
Semirm Osmanagich - showing great willingness and courtesy - led the team from the Sarajevo airport to Visoko. Unfortunately, because of the thick layer of snow, during our short stay they could not visit all the interesting sites they had hoped to see (ie: the Pyramid of the Moon).
Sites that were examined included
-
4 an excavated area of the so-called Pyramid of the Sun
-
4 a portion of the mound Toprakalia;
-
4 the network of underground tunnels (the main target of the "mission).
Pyramid of the Sun (at Visoko)
Visocica hill (renamed Pyramid of the Sun by Osmanagich) is about 300m high. Overall it has a symmetrical form and the pyramidal shape is really marked on 2 sides (northern and eastern faces).
Seeing the hill in front of you, it's almost natural to think it possible that it is the product of human activity.
On the morning of Saturday 29th with the support of Haris Delibasic - project presentator of the Bosnian of the Sun Foundation - the team went to visit "Sonda 4", the only excavated area accessible in spite of the snow.
Sonda 4 is situated almost at the base of the northern side and it is easily reachable thanks to wooden stairs settled inside the forest that cover the face of the hill.
In spite of the adverse climatic conditions, some large blocks emerged from the thick layer of snow.
Main features of these blocks that were observed after removing the snow are as follows:
-
4 the blocks are conglomerates made of fragments of different types of rock
-
4 the connective material that seals the blocks is uniform and seems to be a sort of carbonated cement
-
4 the composition of the clasts is variable: fragments are sometimes angular and sometimes rounded
-
4 the shape of the blocks is semi-regular with almost right angles
-
4 the blocks are oriented with the same dip
-
4 there is a layers of clay (a few centimeters deep) in between the blocks
In order to understand what kind of process may have created this pyramidal hill (natural or artificial?), it would have been interesting to examine the other excavated areas on the Pyramid of the Sun and the geological aspect of the zone nearby "Sonda 4", but unfortunately this was impossible due to the large amount of snow.
The mound Toprakalia (at Vratnica)
After visiting the Pyramid of the Sun, Haris took the Roma Sotterranea team to Vratnica - about 4 kilometers from the pyramid - where during some excavation work was done by local citizens in 2006. Itt turns out that this perfect geometrical hill may have the characteristics of a tumulus.
Main features of this site are the beds of clay paved with tiles; these are a sort of terrace and above each of them there is a pavement of sandstone tiles with a thickness that varies from a few to ten centimeters deep.
As in the case of the Pyramid of the Sun, most of the structure's details were not visible because they were buried under a deep layer of snow; nevertheless the geometrical regularity of sandstone pavements was deductible by looking at the numerous signs on the snow produced by the splits between the tiles.
In some places it was possible to see tiles in section; their thickness appearing to be quite regular and between terraces at different levels there are very deep layers of clay (more or less a couple of meters thich).
In order to understand if these pavements are natural or hand-made, it would be useful to verify how deep they are stuck inside the wall of the mound but again it wasn't possible to make any test on this visit due to the snow.
Tunnel Ravne (at Visoko)
The main goal of the visit was to examine the network of underground tunnels stretching below the area of Visoko.
On Saturday afternoon Sam brought the team to explore the so called tunnel Ravne, whose entrance is located about 3 kilometers from the Pyramid of the Sun.
The tunnels stretch into a deep layer of conglomerates and sand not much cemented; probably in the past they were flooded and the layer of conglomerates was formed after the water receded. Perhaps because of this cemented debris, tunnels significantly shrunk in their original dimension but Foundation explorers have not yet found the original sides and ceiling.
Today the tunnels are about 1 meter high and 0,5 meters large and they are mostly hidden by recent sediments; on the excavation front it is possible to see the arch of tunnel and the recent incoherent sediments that almost fill the opening.
Foundation explorers have been able to progress about 300 meters inside the tunnel and since lateral sides and ceiling of the tunnel are quite prone to dissolution, they enlarged tunnel sections by removing debris in order to make work conditions safer.
The most interesting features that were observed in the tunnel are the following:
Side passageways
During the enlarging of the original tunnel, explorers found a large number of secondary lateral tunnels starting from both sides of the main one.
The most interesting feature is that these side sections have been blocked by sandstone material and closed by a stack of stones that make up a wall; the material used for blocking the entrance of lateral tunnels appears to be more sandy compared to the conglomerate of the arch (this material may have been brought from a different place).
Sandstone blocks
Within the tunnel there are a number of sandstone monoliths and on some of them it's possible to see signs and inscriptions.
Artificial origin of these tunnels is evident but it's very hard to give an answer to questions like: who were they made by? When? And for what use?
Conclusions
The aim of this visit to the Bosnian valley of Pyramids was not to verify if these hills in Visoko are pyramids whose creators were ancient Europeans but to understand if there is a possibility of the existence of something different from natural geological formations and therefore something of archaeological interest. The team wanted to know if it would be useful to make a deeper exploration of the Bosnian site or if it would be preferable to abandon the project.
The conclusion is that the site is very interesting and this phenomenon needs to be explored further..
For this reason the Roma Sotterannea team plans to make a second visit to Bosnia in June 2009. The goal of this visit will be to organize an excavation session for a week with the help of our geologists.
The team believse that the words of Dr. Nabil Swelim (Egyptologists and archaeologist - President of the International Conference about Bosnian Pyramids 2008) best describe what should be a correct scientific approach:
"Disagreements are the right of everyone and they have to be respected; but they have to show on what issues they disagree. Opinions or statements made without evidence are not decisive, rejections for no reason are not accepted, whims are not scientific, condescending and insulting statements must come to an end.
Otherwise reasonable disagreements on scientific matters have to be discussed and, if correct, accepted."
... The angry and temperamental who claim that there are no pyramids in Bosnia must know that in scientific research: negative evidence is no evidence."
(The Pyramid hills: Visočica and Plješevica Hrašće - observations and analyses, 30th August to 12th September 2007)
Roma Sotterranea is grateful to Sam Osmanagich and all his assistants who helped during their stay in Bosnia and would like to thank them for their cordiality and warm hospitality!!
Alessandro Comi, Michele Concas, Adriano Morabito, Elettra Santucci
Associazione Culturale Roma Sotterranea
Sede legale: Viale dell'Esperanto 71 - Sede operativa: Via Appia Antica 26
Tel: 0654221988 - fax: 0654282970
Mail: attivita@romasotterranea.com